Wayne Gretzky was pretty good at hockey. But as a kid, he also showed off his skills at the golf course.
At the age of 14, Gretzky tried golf for the first time and loved it.
“My friends and buddies all played. It was more my dad me telling me that I should learn how to play golf because all hockey players play golf. That’s kind of how I started”, Gretzky told Golf.com a couple of years ago. “Like every other Canadian kid, I thought the clubs were on the wrong side. My dad told me if you want to be a good golfer, you have to play right-handed though. So that was my introduction to the game.
Wayne Gretzky has been playing several celebrity tournaments. He competed in the Pebble Beach Pro-AM, playing alongside country star Jake Owen and world class golfers Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson.
For Jake Owen, watching Gretzky walk the course was something special.
“Out of all celebrities that plays in that tournament, I’ve never seen anyone as big of a celebrity as Wayne Gretzky”, Owen said speaking on the Fore Play Podcast. “People will chase him down with jerseys, getting into fights, throwing jerseys over the ropes at him”.
As they were finishing the last round of golf at the Pro-AM, Jake’s caddie and friend asked Wayne if he could sign a couple of golf balls.
The Great One did, and continued with signing some golf equipment which belonged to the golf club
However, when Gretzky had signed it, they quickly realized that the organizers of the tournament would want it back.
But Wayne had the best answer – and a great story of The Great One at Pebble Beach was born.
Listen to Jake Owen telling the story in the link down below.
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